A Pledge Lasts Forever
by flowerjoy1212
Summary: How long can Levi, Erwin, and the rest of the members of the Survey Corps wait for Hange's return? Levi swore that no matter how long, he will be waiting for her.
1. Chapter 1

I missed a day.. Oh well haha. Good thing I prepared these stories beforehand. Honestly, I like that there are weeks honoring a shipping, so they could give me prompts and ideas haha. This one however, got me stuck. But then, this became one of my favorites because this forced me to write in a different style than the other stories. Also warning, this is slightly in AU. One of the characters disappears, and that totally changed of what happened.. you'll see why.

Levihan Week Prompt 4

Pledge

Waves of memories started to play in Levi's head. He took a deep breathe, and let it all in. He still remembered their first meeting.

 **_Flashback_**

 _"Hey! I'm Hange Zoe! Remember me? Haha of course you do, everyone always remember me for some reason!" the crazy one called out to Levi_

 _"How can anyone forget someone as obnoxious as you?" Levi responded bluntly._

 _Instead of being offended, Hange laughed out loud. "You're right! I don't mind that at all in all honesty! Let's be great friends, Levi!"_

 _"I'm good."_

 _"Aw don't be shy! I know I will irresistible to you someday!"_

She was not wrong.. In fact, she was certainly right.

 ** _Another flashback_**

 _"And so, that's how all these theories, research, books, and experiments I piled up for 5 years came down to this conclusion! What do you think?" Hange asked gleefully._

 _"I lost it from the very first explanation." answered Levi._

 _"Leviii! I am serious this time! If we gather all these information about the titans, we might have a chance!"_

 _"Sure we will."_

 _"Levi, all humanity needs is knowledge. Not just brute strength, that comes later, but knowledge can wipe out a race."_

 _"I know that. But I have the strength, and look where I am now."_

 _"Gee, you may survive due to your incredible abilities, but I'm not sure if humanity will with just your abilities."_

 _"Tch, whatever. Just continue."_

 _"I knew you were paying attention! Now where was I?"_

He loved the way she babbles about all these titan stuff. Her curiosity and cleverness definitely helped humanity to step up from the titans. Without her, they wouldn't be where they are now, finally having victories against these unknown creatures. Most of all, he loved the way her cleverness helped her to expose him..

 _"Levi.."_

 _"Now it isn't the time Hange."_

 _"I know… I know… But you know, I just want to tell you. I'm still here. Erwin is still here. Humanity hasn't lost yet. I know it isn't fair that your loved ones already met their end.. They did their best. You did your best. But, in order to fulfill their will, we must move on and strike back at the enemy." Hange wraps her arms around Levi's head. Levi lets her, and closes his eyes at her comfort._

 _"Thank you." he wanted to say._

Levi thought he would never felt these emotions such as hope, relief, and especially love. That four eyes introduced those feelings to him.

 _"I'm barging in your room again."_

 _"I just cleaned, four eyes."_

 _"Well too bad, you're going to clean again anyway right. I know you will."_

 _"What do you want now."_

 _"Come on, I come here regularly now."_

 _"Do I have to listen to your ramblings again?"_

 _"Maybe.. ugh I am so jealous that you get to keep that Eren boy!"_

 _"Of course you are."_

 _"Can I keep him for one day?"_

 _"No, you might kill him."_

 _"Pretty please?!"_

 _"No, I would probably have to restrain you now."_

 _"Gee, you know me so well, Levi."_

 _"You made sure of that."_

 _There was a moment of silence. Hange casually changed to her night clothes, while Levi was finishing his paperworks. For some reason, he had been getting these thoughts, thoughts like if Hange also does these things with him with other men. Does she change casually in front of Erwin or Mike too? Annoyingly, thinking about it bothered him._

 _"I always love sleeping in your bed. You always have it neat and soft. Why don't you sleep on beds?" asked Hange._

 _"I thought I already told you, I am not used to them."_

 _"Why don't you start trying?"_

 _"I rather not. If I get attacked, I could easily defend if I was sleeping on a chair."_

 _"Why am I not surprised to hear that answer."_

 _Levi stacked his papers, and sat on his "bed"._

 _"More importantly, do you ever do this kind of thing with anyone else?" Levi asked._

 _Hange looked at him weirdly. "What thing?"_

 _"Sleeping in their beds. Changing in front of them. Spending nights with them?"_

 _"Oh my, someone is curious."_

 _"Shut up and answer the damn question."_

 _"Hahaha alright alright. Nah I don't ever do that with anyone. I can't imagine myself sleeping on Erwin's bed, that gives me the chills! If you're wanting to hear that you're special, then you got it."_

 _"Good. You better not do these kinds of things with other men."_

 _"Huh?"_

 _Levi stared at Hange. Without thinking, Levi walked to his actual bed, and pinned Hange down._

 _"Levi?! What are you doing?!" Hange squeaked._

 _Without saying a word, Levi gently pressed his lips against Hange. Hange's eyes widened, and then closed her eyes. She slowly wrapped her arms around him. After a while, Levi broke the kiss, and both started to pant slightly._

 _"I-" Levi started to say._

 _"You don't have to say anything Levi. You were going to say something like, "You are that one special woman in my life. I better be special person in yours." but to put it simply, "I love you.", right?"" Hange said. Levi gave a rare , small smile._

 _"Yes." he said, kissing her once more._

That felt like yesterday. But in reality, that was a month ago. Their relationship had been like this for a month.. and now, this happened.

 ** _Flashback from yesterday_**

 _"Soldiers! The titans are getting closer and closer to Wall Rose! We must not let them infiltrate the second wall! The survey corps and the garrisons will be working together on this mission! Teams will be divided into 4 groups! I, Erwin Smith and Pixis will stand at the gate of Wall Rose, preventing any titan from going in the wall! Captain Levi along with Eren Yeager will be at the front lines. With their incredible power, they can hopefully wipe out the waves of titans before coming near the wall! Squad Leader Hange Zoe and Rico Bzenska will be at the rear ends, just in case the waves of titans decide to be at the edges. And finally, Squad Leader Mike and Nanaba would be swarming around, giving supplies supporting any group that needs help. Got it? " Erwin ordered. The soldiers roared, going into their positions._

 _Levi looked at his squad's faces. "Ready kill some titans?" he asked._

 _Erd, Gunther, Petra, Oluo, Eren, Mikasa, Armin, Sasha, Connie, and Jean looked back at him, nodding._

 _"Let's go."_

 _Levi and his squad did a pretty good job attack the titans, but a handful of titans managed to slip away. The lucky titans tried their best to even come a mile close to the walls, but the defending squads did not allow that to happen. After the waves of titans started to decrease, Levi noticed that swarms of titans aren't appearing anymore. He shot a green flare, signaling everyone that the front lines survived and succeeded in killing off most of the titans. He looked back to see if the defense teams were still fighting. Most of them were cleaning up the scraps, so it was basically their victor_ y.

 _Of course there were many casualties. Levi returned, with only one of his squad dead, Erd. His exhausted squad all collapsed when they arrived at the top of Wall Rose. By that time, Erwin declared victory over their battle. However, Levi noticed that Hange and Rico's team were not back yet._

 _"Erwin, where are Hange and the others?" Levi asked._

 _"I do not know. They should be returning soon. Mike scouted the whole area, and he doesn't smell any live titans."_

 _Just after he said this, they spotted Moblit and Rico limping towards them. Levi's eyes widened, and Erwin's expression darkened. Moblit and Rico could barely stand on their own, using each other as support._

 _"Commander.. Captain.." Moblit moaned._

 _"Moblit, Rico. Where are the others?" Erwin asked solemnly._

 _"Only half of us survived. They are either critically injured or in shock." Rico groaned._

 _"I see. Please rest, and patch yourselves up. But what happened to Hange?"_

 _"She is critically injured sir, we don't know if she will survive.…" Moblit whimpered._

When Moblit said those words, Levi's world shattered. Even though he faced pain and despair before in his life, nothing was compared to this suffering.

 _"What did you say?!" Levi snapped. Erwin put a hand in front of Levi._

 _Moblit looked down. "In order to save our squad, Squad Leader Hange used the last bit of her gas to climb up a 13 meter titan's neck, and stabbed it hard. She didn't have enough gas to run away after, so she fell down with the titan.. On that crushed building. We couldn't help her. After the titan fell, more titans started to swarm in. But thanks to Squad Leader's quick thinking, we weren't cornered by that 13 meter titan, and started defend ourselves." Moblit explained._

 _Without saying a word, Levi ran to find Hange._

And there he is now, sitting in front of an unconscious Hange. She looked rather innocent, peaceful even. Levi noticed that her peachy skin color started to show up now. Yesterday, her skin was pale white due to blood loss. Levi continued to stare at her.

"I know you will wake up. You just have to. Hange…" Levi whispered, facing down and holding her hand. He heard footsteps coming near the patient's room. Levi looked back, and saw his squad at the door. His squad became flustered, embarrassed.

"Um.. I'm sorry, did we interrupt something?" Armin squeaked.

"No, it's fine, come on in." Levi told them, turning back to the sleeping Hange.

His squad quietly walked in, and stood around Hange's bed.

"What did the doctors say about her condition?" Eren asked.

"Will squad leader be okay?" Petra added.

Levi sighed. "The doctors told us that… Hange is in a coma. When she fell off from the titan, she landed on her head pretty hard, and also was stabbed by a chipped rooftop in the abdomen."

Everyone looked at their captain sadly.

"But she's still alive right? She can survive this right? Jean questioned.

"I don't know.. The doctors told Erwin and I that there is a chance that she may never wake up… Right now, she's just in a coma, but they don't know how long." Levi murmured. His eyes turned deadpanned as he spat out those words.

Sasha started to tear up, while Mikasa was hugging her sadly.

"I'm so sorry, Captain.." Oluo said.

"No. She is going to wake up." Levi told them. His squad didn't say anything, also hoping for the same thing.

"Let's give Captain some time alone.. I think he needs some peace and quiet." Gunther said, beckoning the others to follow him. Sasha sniffed, and stood up first, followed by Mikasa, Eren, Armin, Jean, Oluo, Connie, and lastly Petra. She stopped and glanced at her captain and Hange. She watched Levi holding onto Hange's hand, muttering something softly. Her eyes stared at the scene sadly, and closed the door.

"Hange.. No matter what, I will always wait for you. I will never believe that you are dead, and I will forever wait for you. No matter how long you stay in this state, I will not stop loving you." Levi whispered. For a moment, Hange's hand turned slightly warm. His heart pounded, and looked at her sleeping face.

"I know you are fighting hard… Don't give up. Humanity needs you… I need you. With this hope, I will pledge myself to you Hange. " murmured Levi. He stood up, and gently kissed her forehead.

"I will be waiting."


	2. Chapter 2

Hope you enjoy :)

 ** _2 years later_**

The survey corps returned after another intense battle. It's been a monthly thing where the survey corps just keep the titans away from Wall Rose. Their only progress was that they are closer in having war for Wall Maria. Strangely enough, the Colossal Titan and Armor Titan haven't been appearing ever since their attack. It's been actually rather peaceful, but Erwin was sure that the mastermind of everything is waiting for its deadly strike. The citizens tried to ask what happened at today's battle, but no one said anything. Even though they successfully drove out the titans, they haven't discovered anything. Humanity still hasn't found out the origins of titans, the intentions of the titan shifters, and the secret behind the Reiss family. If only his most brilliant researcher was here…

Erwin glanced at Levi sadly. Levi still has his stoic, dark expression. His melancholic face expression didn't change ever since that incident. The survey corps arrived at their headquarters, and rested. The very first thing Levi did, as always, visited Hange's room. His squad watched him go, sadly. Levi is still hoping for her awakening, even after two years.

"You guys.. it's already been two years and Hange-san still haven't showed any signs of waking up," Eren whispered.

"Please Eren, don't say that." Mikasa told Eren.

"Especially in front of the captain.." Armin added.

"Captain Levi sure does love Hange-san.. Even after her being in that state for 2 years, he still visits every day." Jean whispered in awe. Petra twitched at that comment. Gunther and Oluo noticed this, and looked at their teammate sadly.

"Let's be happy that we won today and we only had few casualties!" Sasha said, trying to lighten up the mood. Everyone agreed, walking back to their rooms.

Gunther and Oluo stopped Petra, and said, "We need to talk."

Petra startled, and looked away. "You noticed, huh?"

"Look Petra, your unrequited love for Captain Levi is harmful. I can't believe that you still love him." Oluo exclaimed.

"How can I not? I always loved him, ever since I joined his squad. Almost all girls had or have a crush on him. But I fell hard.. especially since I am in his squad. And even though he loves Hange-san.. I just can't.." Petra started to say before tearing up. Gunther looked at her sadly, and patted her shoulder.

"Petra, I think you should tell Captain your true feelings." Gunther suggested. Both Oluo and Petra whipped their heads at Gunther.

"What? What's with your timing?!" exclaimed Oluo.

"I am suggesting this for both Petra and Captain Levi. They are both in pain. Petra loves Captain for a long time now, she needs to at least let it out to him. Captain loves Hange-san, but.. I want to slap myself for this but Hange-san isn't likely to wake up anytime soon. Captain must move on.." Gunther explained. Petra looked down at the floor.

"I thought so too, actually." Petra whispered. Oluo still looked uncertain.

"You see this guys. Love brings suffering, especially in a middle of a war." Oluo hissed under his breathe.

"Go Petra. Let it out to Captain. This can help you move on, and even help bring Captain out of his misery." Gunther said.

Petra smiled, "Thanks you guys.. for always being there for me."

Later that evening, Petra decided she was going to do it. It's now or never. She realized that she could die any day, and she wants to let her captain know her feelings for him. That's right, how much she desires to be with him and support him. Each step towards Captain Levi's room became harder, and before she knew it, she was at his door. She took a deep breathe, and knocked on his door.

"Who is it?" Levi called out.

"It's me, Petra, sir." Petra answered.

Levi looked at the door. "Come in."

Petra opened the door, slightly turning red. "Sorry for bothering you at this time, Captain." she stuttered.

"It's fine. What do you need, Petra?" Levi asked. This is strange, what would Petra need at this time? Levi thought.

"Nothing, sir. I just want to.. see if you're doing alright." Petra squeaked. She actually said those words.

"Oh.. Well I am doing fine." Levi answered her. For some reason, this brings back nostalgic feelings…

"Captain.. I noticed that what you say and your expression is completely different." Petra told him.

Levi glanced at her. Yes… this does bring back some memories.

 ** _Flashback_**

 _"You know what Levi, what you say isn't what you really mean."_

 _"Now why would you say that."_

 _"Well, you act like you don't care, but you truly do."_

 _"Where's your proof?"_

 _"You're my proof."_

 _"Really, Hange?"_

 _"If you look at yourself, your body, face expression, and eyes show otherwise. I can translate your nasty words into your encouraging statements, hehe."_

 _"Try me."_

Levi slightly chuckled, surprising Petra. "Hange also told me the same thing." At the sound of Hange's name, Petra's expression changed. She looked a bit more.. determined?

"Captain, may I sit in the bed next to you?"

"Go ahead."

Petra slowly sits next to Levi on his bed. But suddenly, she stood up right in front of him, and wraps her arms around his head. Levi's eyes widened at her actions.

"Captain, I just want to comfort you. I want to let you know that I am always here for you. Please, tell me your troubles and your feelings. I want to help you." Petra whispered, blushing.

This is all too familiar. The way she is hugging him, her soft whisperings, her comforting voice, her words… her touches..

 ** _Flashback_**

 _"Levi.. Remember that I will always be here for you. I really want you to depend on me sometimes. You are not alone, and will never be alone. I will always love you.."_

Petra continued, this time stuttering a bit. "Captain.. All these years, I wanted to tell you this. How much I wanted to be right next to you.. But I am already so lucky to be in your squad. Thank you for handpicking me, captain. It's all because.. I love you."

There was a moment of silence. The two didn't move, still in the same position.

Levi, shocked, looked up. He started to say, "Petra.. I-"

But Petra interrupted, "Captain Levi.. Please forgive me but.. please forget about Hange-san. I want to help you to heal.. but by doing so, please forget about her.." Without warning, Petra placed her hands on Levi's cheeks, and pressed her lips to Levi's lips.

Levi's eyes widened. This feeling.. it's all too familiar. It's like… Without thinking, Levi pinned Petra down his bed. Petra gasped, but was cut off by Levi's lips. This time, Petra's eyes widened. Levi was kissing her back! Petra closed her eyes, blushing madly, and wrapped her arms around Levi. They deepened the kiss, and Petra started to moan softly. Finally.. her captain noticed her. But even though she is enjoying every second, deep inside her, she knows that her Captain was probably…

Levi, realizing of what he was doing, broke the kiss immediately. Petra opened her eyes, and stared at Levi sadly. She knew it..

"Petra.. I'm sorry.. that.." Levi stuttered. What was he doing? For a moment, he thought back of when he was in the same situation, but with Hange. And that hypnotized him..

"Captain.." Petra murmured, tears falling from her eyes.

"Petra.. You're a young woman, you shouldn't be falling for someone like me." Levi told her.

"I've grown up now Captain! Also Captain, I know your needs, and I know you can protect me from all things! I can help you forget Hange-san.." Petra pleaded.

Levi twitched. "I'm sorry Petra, but I can't.. Thank you, but I can't.. I already gave my pledge to her.. So Petra, please move on.."

Petra closed her eyes, and smiled sadly. "So that kiss then.. you were only thinking of Hange-san, right?"

Levi looked away, and answered, "That's right. Sorry.."

Petra lifted herself out of his bed. "Captain, I do not regret loving you. I sincerely wish you happiness.. And Hange-san is such a lucky woman. I knew someone like you would truly be this loyal."

Levi stared at her. "Thank you. Good night, Petra."

Petra smiled at him, and walked back to her room. That night, tears wouldn't stop falling from her cheeks, while Levi didn't sleep at all.

Even though it was somewhat a long trip, Levi walked to the infirmary room, where Hange was still unconscious. He slowly opened the door, and sat down on a chair next to Hange. His face grew solemn, and stared at Hange's peaceful state.

"Hange.. I still haven't broken my pledge.. Please don't give up. We have tried to extract all your journals and research but.. We still haven't gotten to any conclusions." Levi whispered to her. Still hoping for a reaction, Levi continued to stare at her. He stood up, and kissed her forehead gently.

"I'll still be waiting, Hange." he said, before sleeping on the chair.

 ** _A year later…_**

"What the hell are you thinking, Erwin?!" Levi demanded. One of the most scariest thing happened at the Survey Crops headquarters, which was a heated battle between the commander and the captain.

"Levi, it's time to let go! We have been providing too many materials and medical aide for her for three years, and nothing happened! We can't afford to lose any more money and provisions!" Erwin yelled.

"So you just want to give up and let her die?!" Levi shouted back.

"She is not going to wake up! Levi, out of all people, you should be able to let her go!"

"Of course I can't, Erwin! You're murdering her if you are just going to stop the medical aide!"

"This is my order, I am going to transfer her out of here!"

"You think I am going to let you do that?!"

"Are you defying my orders, Levi?" Erwin hissed at him. Levi's glare did not stop. Many of the survey corps members cowered in fear, not wanting to be in the middle of this argument.

"You are going to regret it, Erwin. I am warning you now, you are really going to regret it." warned Levi.

Erwin sighed. "Levi.. You have to let her go. Do you think I really want to do this? Of course I don't want to, but we need this money to prepare for war."

"But she's still alive.. She's not dead, she's still alive… If she wakes up, she can help humanity and- " Levi started to argue.

"Levi.. Do you think Hange would want you to do this?" Erwin asked him. That's all it took for Levi to stop struggling. Erwin pushed past Levi, and nodded at the doctors. The doctors nodded back, and stopped the machine next to Hange's bed. Hange did not budge. The doctors were about to take Hange out, but Erwin stopped them.

"Let me do the honors.. please." Erwin pleaded. He first stared at Hange for a while, before picking her up in a bridal style. He walked past by Levi again, who was frozen in shock, confusion, anger, and despair. Next to him, he could hear some of his squad sobbing. He could also hear murmurs, whispers, and sniffles among the members of the survey corps. But, he felt eyes pity and sympathy towards him from everyone. No, Hange wouldn't want people to view him like that. She would have slapped Levi hard for being this vulnerable to everyone.

Levi's changed his broken expression into more of a stoic one. Everyone looked surprised, seeing Captain Levi's sudden change. He shushed his weeping squad, and ordered them to continue their duties.

"Yes sir!" they cried, solemnly obeyed his orders. They knew that he just want to have some time off alone.

Levi wandered outside for fresh air. His hair covered his eyes, and his walking pace kept on changing. He stopped in front of a tree. For a moment, Levi just stood there, glaring at the tree. Then, Levi punched the tree as hard as he can, chipping almost half of the tree trunk. Blood dripped from his knuckles, but that pain wasn't anywhere near of what he was feeling in the inside.

"Damn it all!" Levi yelled out. Even though he just lost the love of his life, he refused to cry. Hange wouldn't wanted him to.

His body shook, slowly sliding down in a sitting position. He laughed half-heartedly. "Four eyes.. just how much do you want from me? You would probably scold me for acting like this but.. it's your own damn fault." Wiping the blood from his fist, Levi leaned back against the beaten tree.

"I guess you have to wait for me now. But I am still going to keep my pledge." Levi whispered.

 ** _Another year has passed…_**

For this pass year.. humanity took a huge step. Out of nowhere, Erwin started to discover the secrets behind the titans. Just suddenly one day, Erwin announced all these discoveries to the survey corps. He explained his theories the titan's reasons for eating humans, the origins of the titans, this new titan shifter they faced, and the story behind the Reiss family. No one knew how he found everything out, but plans were already set to action.

"I can't believe this whole time.. humans become titans? I don't get it.." Connie whispered.

Historia (Krista) was also loss at words. "I never knew about my family's origins.." she murmured.

"And now, we have to overthrow the kingdom? How the hell did we get this far all of the sudden?" Jean wondered.

Their captain didn't say anything. He hasn't been saying much ever since a traumatic event happened last year.

"Does Commander Erwin have a genie? Or is he a genie himself?" Oluo asked.

"Oluo, stop being stupid." Petra grunted.

"Come on you guys, we have to gather materials, organize the weapons, and pack for our next mission!" scolded Eren.

Levi's squad were assigned to track Rod Reisse's whereabouts, but they weren't told about the details. For now, they were preparing and organizing.

"Commander Erwin told us that the someone else will be discussing about the plan instead of himself." Armin informed his squad, while carrying a huge box.

"I bet it's his secret spy." Oluo muttered. Petra rolled her eyes.

Jean accidentally stepped on Eren's foot while carrying a heavy saddle.

"Ouch! Watch where you are going, horseface!" Eren yelled.

"You were in the way, moron!" Jean shot back.

"You guys stop fighting…" Armin tried to calm them down.

"Fight! Fight! Fight!" Connie and Sasha cheered.

"Hahahaha our stupid youngsters!" Oluo laughed.

"Oluo, you're not being a good role model!" Petra scolded.

Historia giggled, forgetting about all her problems.

Levi scowled, and scolded, "You brats, can't you guys behave more maturely now? Aren't you almost in your adulthood?"

The younger members looked back at their captain. "Nope!" and continued arguing/cheering/ laughing.

"Haha! I see that you guys haven't changed that much!" a familiar voice called out. Every single person in the room froze at what they were doing. Everything went totally silent. They recognized that voice from somewhere, especially Levi. Every single heads turned slowly towards behind them….

And right in from the door, stood Erwin and.. Hange, all healthy and in her usual uniform. No one could breathe for a second. Everyone had their eyes wide open, mouth gaped, but no sounds coming out. Sasha dropped the potato she was holding, Eren and Jean released their grasps onto one another, and Mikasa, even though in an awkward position, did not move. Levi, at the center of the room, did not blink. His mouth turned into a big "O", and wondered if he was dreaming.

Erwin cleared his throat, and smiled broadly. "This is the person who is going to tell you about our plan to overthrow the government. I'm sorry I had to keep her hidden for a while, but it took some time for her to settle her mental state after her recovery. But she amazingly thought of all these theories this past month, and that helped us at where we are now."

Still, no one said a word, still shocked at what they are seeing.

"H-h-h-hange-san?" Eren squeaked.

"Awh Eren! It's only been four years, have you already forgotten my name? Don't worry I am not a ghost!" Hange giggled. Everyone then realized that it was not a dream. Hange Zoe was standing in front of them, alive and well.

"HANGE-SAN!" everyone cried except for Levi, ran towards her. Sasha, Armin, Connie, and Historia all hugged her arms/waist, while Eren, Mikasa, Jean, Oluo, Petra, and Gunther were surrounding her.

"HANGE-SAN, YOU ARE ALIVE!" Sasha sobbed, tears flowing out.

"What happened? Was it all you who thought of those amazing discoveries!?" Armin asked.

More questions, cries, and blubbering came out of the squad. Hange smiled softly at them.

"Yes, I came back. I'm sorry that it took me so long, but here I am. Now, we can finally move on forward to defeat the titans. I am so glad that you guys survived long enough for me to discover their possible origins and motivations." Hange said. More cries and sobs were received by the squad.

Meanwhile, Levi still stood there, mouth opened. He was still trying to process at what was happening. There is no way that Hange is standing in front of him. What the hell is Erwin planning? Is this her long lost twin or clone? Levi witnessed Erwin stopping the machine that kept Hange alive right in front of him.

His squad noticed Levi's confusion. They glanced at each other in agreement, and made way for Hange to Levi.

"Captain.. Hange-san has returned." Petra said, smiling softly.

"I don't believe you." Levi answered coldly. He returned back to his cold, emotionless expression.

"Levi, she's no clone or something. Trust me.." Erwin tried to explain.

"Geez Levi, I was expecting an emotional welcome back from you. And you're just standing there and glaring at me like I'm some enemy. Heh, I knew you would do something like that anyways." Hange chuckled.

Levi twitched. This person does act and talk like Hange.. Could he really believe and hope again? Levi already gave up on hoping of Hange's return, and was waiting to reunite with her again in the afterlife. Hange noticed Levi's tremblings, and smiled.

"In times like this, I have to go up to him and give him a hug. Even though he loves you like hell, he refuses to show it!" Hange laughed, running up to him and jumping on his arms. She wrapped her arms around his neck, and whispered, "Levi… I'm back. And I see that you kept your so called pledge well."

Swirls of emotions swept through Levi's body. Levi's body is wailing at the sound of her voice, and her familiar touches. Everything inside him was howling, heart thumping, blood boiling, and muscles tensing.

"H-hange…" Levi whispered, about to wrap his own arms around her. He wanted to hold her tight, never letting go. He wanted her voice whisper in his ears the whole night. He wanted her to breathe softly again and again. He wanted to touch her until his own body gets her scent. He wanted to kiss her until she couldn't breathe any longer.

But Hange slightly shoved him away, winking at him. And right there he finally got it in. Hange is really back..

Masking into his usual cool expression, Levi grunted, "What took you so long, four eyes."

Hange grinned, hearing his usual blunt statement. "I finally get to hear you saying my lovely nickname you gave me!"

Everyone in the room smiled at the scene. Of course these two abnormal lovers would have an abnormal reunion.

Erwin cleared his throat, and announced, "Okay you guys. Hange will be taking over most of the plans here. She will explain of what your roles are in this plan. And then, you all can catch up with one another. I will grant you a day to do that." Erwin half-smiled, and excused himself out of the room.

Hange watched him go, and turned her attention to Levi and his squad. "You heard the man! Now let's get to it! Let's finish the chores later, and I'll tell you everything of what's going on!" Hange said excitedly. Everyone, with lifted spirits, quickly sat down and listened to her explanations and stories. They all had eagerness in their faces, even Levi, who was smiling in the background.

Pledges are more powerful than promises, Levi thought, finally smiling after years of pain and torture. After all this is over, Hange better prepare herself because he is not going to hold back any emotions tonight. And once again, he pledges himself to never let go of her ever again.

~Finished~

So I really want to emphasize how much Hange Zoe contributed to humanity. She discovered why titans eat humans, finds more about titan shifters and their intentions, and the true royal family, the Reiss Family. She's not some crazy scientist, please, that's only like 20 percent of her. And I also want to show how Levi is the master of masking his feelings. I read many fanfictions where his lover dies, and he sobs, weeps, and cries. I feel like he would do that, but never in front of anyone. I don't even think he will sob at all alone, but maybe shed some tears. I don't know, when I think of Levi and how he handles loss like this, I feel like he is strong enough to not weep, go into depression, or give up in life. But overall, thank you for reading!


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